The Way I Do: A Heisuke Toudou Love Story
by HiddenXEmotion
Summary: The Okami Pack Returns with Ryoko's story now. With a past that haunt's the youngest member nearly everyday, Ryoko has a problem with trusting and letting her feelings guide her through life. Not wanting to ever go through the events again, she refuses to trust anyone outside of the pack but when an ordeal comes forward she finds that Heisuke has pushed through her defenses...
1. Chapter 1

**I OWN NOTHING BUT THE STORY LINE AND THE CHARACTERS THAT YOU DON****'T KNOW FROM THE ANIME/MANGA!**

_**Chapter One**_

_**The Okami Pack**_

"**Stop it, Katsumi! **Stop it! I…can't…breath!"

"Beg me."

"I am begging!"

"Say it!"

"Say what?"

"You know what!"

"All right, all right! Katsumi, you are greater than I. There is no way that I can ever defeat you and I don't know why I continue to try."

"Good," Katsumi removed herself from the younger woman and went to make her way to the food on the table but was jumped on again. "Gah!"

"Come on, Ryoko," A third voice called from the table. "You know you'll never win."

"Shut up, Yumi! I'll never give up! Eve-ahh!" Ryoko grunted as she was pinned beneath the other woman again. "Dammit! Come on, Katsumi, let me win! Just once! Please?"

"Nope, not in your dreams. If I did that I would never hear the end of it; from you guys or my brothers!"

Grumbling under her breath, Ryoko Ito sighed and sat up as her friend moved away. Ryoko was a 5'6', 17-year-old woman with long black hair that she had pulled back into a braid and bright blue eyes. Her skin was a pale white, but healthy, as she was dressed in clothes from the West; black pants and boots and a dark red, silk top.

The woman that she had been rolling around with on the floor was Katsumi Yamaguchi. Katsumi was 24 and 5'7' with brown hair to her shoulders and matching eyes. Her skin was a light tan as she was dressed in clothes from the West as well in the colors of black and white.

In fact, all of them, the others sitting around the table and eating, wore clothes from the west.

Yumi Sato was at 5'7' and about 25 years old with short blonde hair and grey eyes. Her western outfit was gray pants and a dark blue top.

Tsukiko Hayashi was the same age as Yumi and reached the height of 5'9' with long red hair and brown eyes. Her heritage was a bit different than the others, seeming as how her mother was from Scotland, but after living here nearly her whole life she had gotten accustomed to Japan. Her pants were black and her top was a dark green.

Chika Suzuki was about 24 with long black hair and green eyes as she reached the height of 5'7'. Her outfit was black and an orange/yellow.

Fuyu Kimura was 5'6' at the age of 23 with medium black hair and green eyes, having taken on her aunt's look by not only hair and eyes but clothes as well as in the black, western-style pants and a bright pink, fancy top.

Asami Kimura was the one that you would call the 'Head of the Pack' with long black hair and green eyes. She appeared to be in her middle twenties and at the height of 5'8'. Her outfit was much like her niece's but her shirt was a dark purple.

With the wrestling finally at an end for the moment, Katsumi and Ryoko joined the others for breakfast.

"So, what the plan for today?" Katsumi asked.

"We're going to check Kyoto out," Tsukiko was the one to answer. "We got in late last night so I want to see what they have here."

Talk broke out amongst them all for a moment on the idea of what they were going to do around the city when Asami opened her mouth. "I would like for you all to keep out of the city problem. I do not what a repeat of Edo happening here in Kyoto, understand?"

Everyone, except for Asami, turned to look at the duo that had been wrestling. Ryoko flushed and hung her head but Katsumi held her head high as she crossed her arms with a smirk. "Well, the men shouldn't have tried to touch those other women. I wasn't just going to stand there and let them have their way with them." Ryoko lifted her head and gave a prideful look towards the woman beside her.

"Yes, but you didn't have to pulverize them to near death," Yumi replied, and then added under her breath- "Though I would have done the same thing."

"Still, I'll take Ryoko with Yumi and I," Tsukiko decided to say. "It would be a smart idea to go off in groups in this city."

At that, Ryoko opened her mouth the say something but closed it again. She wanted to go travel the city with Katsumi but she knew better than to argue with Tsukiko. As second in command, whatever Tsukiko said was what was done; unless Asami had something else to say. Lifting her gaze towards the said woman, Ryoko flushed and glanced away when she found Asami glancing back at her.

With no sound of objection from any of the others, Fuyu when off with Asami, like always, and Chika and Katsumi were left to stick together, leaving Tsukiko, Ryoko, and Yumi to go off into the city.

Kyoto was large, larger than Edo was, and so there was so much more for them to take a gander at. All the shops and the people there. There were performers in the streets and musicians and children were running around and playing ball. There was even food being sold and the cooked chicken was beginning to make Ryoko's stomach growl.

"You can honestly not be hungry, can you?" Yumi demanded, a hand on her hip. Ryoko flushed and turned her head away. "God, you take after Katsumi a bit too much, Ryo," The blonde woman shook her head.

Yumi and Tsukiko both weren't from Japan but they had become accustomed to the territory well over the years they were here. Yumi was not the woman's real name, seeming as how she changed it after joining Asami and the others. Ryoko had joined the group only after Yumi had so her real name, and where she came from, was not known to her; not that it mattered, though. Yumi was a woman, fierce in battle and protective of those important to her, but she also held a playful side to her as well.

Tsukiko wasn't from Japan either. Her mother was Scottish, her father Japanese, and she only came to Japan when she was young. Tsukiko, without a doubt, was a strict woman but she also had a soft side to her that Ryoko saw when she smiled, watching the children. It wasn't often that she let it out but the younger woman knew that it was there.

The sun now reached high in the sky, telling the trio that it was mid-day now. Yumi had made a comment about being hungry but Tsukiko didn't reply, staring off into the crowd before them. Ryoko followed her gaze to find her staring at men what were walking around with swords and light blue haoris. The men were all over the place, telling Ryoko that they must have been guards of the city or something.

"Who do you think they are?" Ryoko asked the older woman.

Yumi gave a frown as Tsukiko didn't answer. "Who cares? If they don't mess with us then there's nothing for us to worry about," She gave a smile and placed her arms around both their shoulders. "Now, ladies, let get something to eat!"

The trio settled into a small restaurant, ignoring all the looks they received from their choice of dress and the blades the three women carried, they settled in happily and ordered some food.

"Pull your head out of the clouds," Yumi's voice dragged Ryoko from gazing out the window. She had seen Katsumi and Chika walking past the window, laughing and talking. "You can survive without Katsumi for a little while, Ryo."

The younger woman hung her head, her cheeks turning a bright red. "Is it…that obvious?"

"Yeah, it is," Yumi replied, nodding her head. "But don't feel bad. You just have to take it down a notch."

"What Yumi is trying to say is that Katsumi's not going to be there always for you." Tsukiko drank her sake and refilled her glass. "It's easy to get attached to someone after what happened, but you also have to learn how to stand on your own again."

"Or find a husband," Yumi told her, picking up her own glass as the food was brought to them.

"She's 17, there's no need to be worried about that just yet." Tsukiko replied. She leaned forward and looked at Ryoko. "Besides, I doubt that Katsumi will be going anywhere anytime soon so no worries."

Ryoko gave a sigh. "You guys…you're so understanding."

"Well, we were there," Yumi reminded her. "Besides, we're all women. I've gone through something like this once, too…" Her voice faded for a moment…

"Hey! Let go of me!"

All three of them turned to the table across from them. A set of drunken men, (this early, really?) was harassing a waitress; one of them had pulled her into his lap and was trying to kiss her. Ryoko jumped to her feet with a growl.

"Asami told us to stay out of something like this," Yumi reminded them as she took another sip from her sake.

"She'll understand," Ryoko replied, moving forward to stop the drunken man but Tsukiko cut her off, tossing her sake glass across the way to shatter it by the man's face.

"Hey!" The waitress was let go and she ran as the four men turned to glare at the three of them. "What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm pretty sure that I saved you from making a fool out of yourself," Tsukiko replied, her voice cool and eyes closed. "When a woman doesn't want you, it hurts a man, doesn't it? If that's what you can even call yourself anymore."

Ryoko gave a small chuckle as Tsukiko had a vocal battle with the four men before it turned into something in the streets; a sword fight. Ryoko wore a worried look on her face but Yumi swore a small, the sake bottle in one hand and the cup in the other.

"Kick their drunken asses, Tsukiko. Show them what a member of the Okami Pack can do."

"I don't think this is a good idea," Ryoko told them. "Asami will be mad."

"Not when it's Tsukiko," Yumi assured her. "Tsukiko can get away with anything; even more so than Fuyu can. Asami trusts Tsukiko's judgments. Besides, it won't take long."

And Yumi was right. It didn't take that long, and not just because the men were drunk. Even without her sword, Tsukiko was amazing in a fight. It's no wonder that she was the instructor of the Okami Pack before they left Edo.

"Good job, Tsukiko," Ryoko told her friend.

"Pah, not even worth it." The other woman snorted, crossing her arms.

"And that is that," Yumi waved a hand at the four men piled on top of each other on the ground. "Run along before you do something else to embarrass yourselves."

"Too late," Ryoko shook her head. "I wouldn't want to let myself be seen in the streets again after getting that badly beat by a woman."

"You can say that again." The new voice caught them and they turned to find that a crowd had gathered around them; but the one that caught their attention was the three that walked closer for a chat. Three men in those blue haoris.

The one that had spoken was a cheerful young man, about 18, with long brown hair he kept up in a ponytail with blue-green eyes. Dressed in a yellow sleeveless shirt over a purple one with a red and black sash around his waist, black pants and a set of swords on his waist.

The one in the middle was tall with a green bandana around his short, dark brown hair and matching eyes with a tan, muscular body beneath a violet shirt.

The third man of the group was 5'10' in height with dark Amber eyes and long red hair, he wore a modified kataginu with red trimming and a red bandage-like obi, red hand guards and gray hakama.

"Hello," Ryoko heard Yumi say under her breath; her eyes were all over the redhead. Ryoko gave a snort, trying to cover her laugh.

"Can we help you?" Ryoko turned and looked up at Tsukiko. It wasn't often that she was…okay it WAS often that she was annoyed, but there was just something strange about her tone in voice at this point; and the glare she was giving the middle man.

"Well, we just heard the commotion and decided to come and see what was going on," The shorted man gave a smile. "Imagine our surprise to find women with swords and western clothes."

"Yeah, you'd expect to have the western style over her a bit more than it is, wouldn't you?" Ryoko asked, giving a small smile.

"Hey, if the men still want to run around in dresses then let them," Yumi placed a hand on her hip. "Not our problem."

"Hey, not to bad there," The middle man gave a grin to Tsukiko. "Been using a blade for a while now, right? How long? Women don't normally fight."

"That's because men are afraid that we'll be better; not surprising how foolish you can be."

The man understood she was taking a stab at him. "Hey! I-"

"Calm down, Shinpachi, I'm sure she didn't mean it the way you took it." The redhead gave a small smile as he placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. Shinpachi gave a snort and crossed his arms. The redhead looked at the three women. "Can I ask what happened?"

"Well, these four losers decided to try and hit on the waitress and she didn't like it. I think you can understand what happened next." Yumi answered him.

"Indeed," The redhead looked at the younger boy. "Heisuke, go grab a few of the others and take care of these guys, will you?"

"The young boy gave a nod. "Not a problem, Sano. I'll be back in a second."

"Sano?" Yumi raised a brow with a soft smile. "As in short for Sanosuke?"

The redhead gave a smile. "Indeed. Sanosuke Harada. And you are?"

"Yumi Sato."

"If we're not needed, let's be on our way," Tsukiko told the duo with her, turning to leave.

Yumi turned to follow, but not before- "We're here for a few days. Maybe we can catch a drink before we leave."

Sanosuke gave a grin. "I think I'd like that."

"Good. I'll find you through your blue friends," She waved over her shoulder. Ryoko gave a small bow to the redhead before giggling as she hurried after her friend.

"Find him that attractive, eh Yumi?"

"Shut it."

After that, there was no sign of trouble from any of the people in the city, not even the Shinsengumi again. They ended up running into the rest of the group as night fell and people disappeared into the buildings, leaving the streets empty. It seemed that the three of them weren't the only ones that had run into a problem with the Shinsengumi soldiers and Asami told them that it wasn't a good idea to stick around for too long and so they would be leaving Kyoto the next morning before trouble could have a chance to arouse itself. Ryoko had wanted to stay for a little longer but she wouldn't argue with what Asami said; she had learned not too over the time she had been with the older woman.

A scream made everyone freeze in their place; Ryoko felt fear rise up in her throat. It had been a woman.

"Oh no," Yumi shook her head, crossing her arms. "No, we're not getting involved with this." There was a second scream and Asami and Tsukiko moved off quickly, the other following them; Yumi gave silent curses along the way. What they came across wasn't what they had been expecting.

A group of men were kneeling on the ground in a back alley in a circle over the body of a young woman and her child. Ryoko gave a small sigh of relief at the thought of someone running to help the woman but then she noticed something. The men were all wearing those light blue haoris of the Shinsengumi; and blood. They had been the cause of the woman's screams!

"What the fuck…" Ryoko's voice sounded disgusted as the men stood up and turned to face them. Their eyes were a glowing red and their hair was white as they wore looks of hunger and lust.

One of them ran forward with a roar at the women. Katsumi was the closest to him so she quickly whipped out her sword and knocked him to his back with a large slash splattering blood at his feet. She smirked but it quickly fell as the man stood back up, completely healed like nothing had happened at all.

~But how?~ Ryoko asked, frozen in shock. ~That's not possible~

The cut on his shirt was there but the wound was gone; not even a mark to show that it had been there.

"What the hell?" Katsumi cried at the sight of the white-haired man getting back up.

"So," Yumi grinned as she pulled her own sword out. "Normal attacks won't work, huh?"

"I don't know," Tsukiko pulled her's out as well. "Perhaps we should try them headless. What do you think?"

"Works for me. If they can more without heads you can take all the money I have." Chika decided to join in with the duo, her own sword drawn.

Her hand shaking, Ryoko went to grab her own blade but a hand on her shoulder caught her. Glancing over, Asami stood there, shaking her head in silence, telling the younger woman to let the three women have their fun. Instead she just watched as the three women quickly took care of the men, their heads rolling across the ground as their bodies feel.

"Don't worry about it, Katsumi," They all turned to look at Asami. The leader of the pack was staring up at the sky for a moment as the battle finished. "We'll get our answers soon enough."

Ryoko raised a brow. "What do you-"

"Would you look at that," a voice cut her off. "They actually killed them!"

Ryoko recognized that voice and whipped around in time for Yumi's voice to join it. "You three again."

Indeed, the three men from before had shown up again. Heisuke had been the one to talk as Sanosuke and Shinpachi stood close by him. She took a gulp at the sight of the other six men with them, though she was glad to see that none of them had that white hair or red eyes.

The first man that caught Ryoko's attention was the man that she found sharing a glare with Asami. This young man was the tallest of them all with black hair that trailed down his back and a set of dark, purple eyes. Beneath his Haori were the colors black and purple.

The next two men were one with glasses and medium brown hair and the other had brown hair that was pulled up much like that Okita fellow had been. Speaking of which…

"You!" Katsumi's growl grabbed Ryoko's attention and she turned to find that she was glaring at one of the other men. He reached the height of 6'1' with brown hair and green eyes. He wore clothes of red/orange and gray beneath the light blue haori and the white tasuki of the Shinsengumi. He was wearing a smirk as he stared at the speaking woman, his arms crossed. "What do you want this time?"

Before the man could answer, the sound of a sword being drawn made Katsumi turn. Another man stood there. He was close to the other man's height with dark hair and blue eyes as he dressed in black beneath his own haori and tasuki. There was a white scarf around his neck, despite it being in summer, and he wore a plain face as he glanced at the woman he had drawn his sword on.

Ryoko's hand instantly jolted to her own blade, ready to run forward the moment this bastard tried to harm Katsumi. The other women followed suit, readying themselves for a fight.

"What's wrong? Not scared of a few women, are you?" Chika asked as her gaze traveled between the men that no gripped their own swords.

"Considering that you are the Okami Pack and not just your ordinary women, it seems like it would be a smart idea to be cautious at first." The silent man replied.

Ryoko watched as Katsumi grinned, ignoring the blade that being pointed at her. "Like I said before; you're the smart one.

Fuyu looked at all of them for a moment before sighing and letting go of her sword. "Is this really necessary?" She asked them, taking a step forward as she rubbed the side of her head. "Can't we act like civilized people and talk instead of trying to kill each other?"

One of the men, the one without glasses, let out a laugh and let go of his own blade; the other followed suit. "You're right. I'm sure that you all have questions. Perhaps we can handle this-"

"Kondou," The man that had been glaring at Asami now looked at the other man. "You know quite well that-"

"Toshizo, they're women! What can we-"

"We are standing right here you know," Katsumi had beat Ryoko to her words. "Either you talk or we're going to leave, got it? Some of us are tired." Their eyes turned to her as she continued to stare at the one called Toshizo.

"I'm confused," Heisuke called out, scratching the side of his head. "Saito called these women the 'Okami Pack'. What does that mean?"

"The story is," Sanosuke answered. "That a small group of samurai mercenaries formed in the south and have been traveling all over the country, taking on tasks and missions that the other's find to be…either too hard or too foolish. Rumors had been going about the group being ex-warriors of the army or something like that, but apparently that's not the case anymore."

"Yeah," Shinpachi commented now, crossing his arms. "Who'd ever thought that it would be women?"

"Why does everyone make that comment?" Yumi hung her head as she glanced over at Tsukiko. "Are women warriors really something that strange?"

"Men are just idiots and thick-headed," Tsukiko gave the muscled man a glare. "Thinking that they are the only ones capable of fighting."

Shinpachi didn't seem to like that. "What did you say?"

"Hold on, Shinpachi," the redhead grabbed his friend as he ran forward for the second time that day.

"No, let him go, Sanosuke," Heisuke laughed. "I wanna see him get his butt kicked."

"What did you say, you runt?" Shinpachi rounded on the other man.

Sanosuke shook his head as a few giggles escaped Ryoko's mouth. "You just make it worse, Heisuke."

Toshizo looked like he was about to murder the two of them as the others stayed silent. The man in glasses decided to step forward. "The point is, Kondou, you saw what I did. We have a problem."

The man nodded and rubbed his chin. "Yes, we do." He thought for a moment, closing his eyes before looking back to Asami. "You're the Okami Pack, aren't you? The symbols you wear on the back of your coats are the same as the stories say."

Ryoko glanced at the coat Tsukiko wore. They all wore the same thing over their regular clothes. The coats were long and black with the white design of fire and a furious looking wolf on the back.

"And is we are?" Asami replied.

"Then that can either make it better," Ryoko's breath caught at Kondou's next words. "Or worse." He took a step forward to Asami. "I am Isami Kondou, the commander of the Shinsengumi. Would it be too much to ask you and your companions to come with us to our headquarters?"

Asami locked eyes with him. "It appears that we have stepped over the boundaries and into something that needs a lot of explaining."

Kondou gave her a nod. "Something that cannot be explained out in the open."

She gave him a few more moments of a silent stare. "How do I know that you will not jump on us?"

Kondou's face was serious. "I swear on my honor as a samurai."

Asami turned her head and closed her eyes. "Then you'd best hurry with your explanation."

"How can we trust that?" Fuyu asked her aunt. "The last time-"

"This is not the time nor the place," Tsukiko cut the other woman off. "If you're aunt tells us to go then we shall go."

"Don't worry, Fuyu," Katsumi gave her friend a thumbs-up. "They won't be able to touch us!"

Ryoko gave a silent frown. She didn't like the feel of what was going on here.

"Come on," Lifting her head, Ryoko found Kondou and Toshizo had moved to lead the way from the alley. Heisuke and the man with the glasses had stayed behind to do something with the bodies and she wrapped her arms around her body, praying silently that everything was going to be okay.

**Please Review! I like to know what you all think :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**_Chapter Two_**

**_The Shinsengumi_**

**"Do you think the others are okay?"**

"You worry too much, Ryoko."

"Are you telling me that you're not worried?"

Fuyu gave a sigh. "That's not what I said. Of course I'm worried. We were captured by a group of men and thrown in a room away from the others. I am terrified; I just hold it in better than you do." Ryoko hung her head. Fuyu gave a small smile. "But don't worry. You are the youngest and you don't have enough…experience like the rest of us do. You will find your abilities growing stronger and better as time moves on; you just have to be patient."

"Patient…being thrown into events like this doesn't make me patient. It makes me worry even more."

The men from the night before had separated the women into groups. Asami had been in this room with the two of them about an hour ago before one of the men, the one known as Toshizo, came and took her. They had been given warnings not to run and, by the looks of it, none of the women had.

"Whatever we ran into last night must be quite important," Fuyu commented. "I wonder what was going on with it exactly."

"I don't care," Ryoko shook her head. "All it was was bad luck to run into those…those things and anything else to do with them will just cause more!"

"You can't be telling me that you're not even the least bit curious," Fuyu raised a brow at her friend.

Ryoko went still and glanced to the side. "Not…not entirely, but still! I just don't want anything bad to happen to us."

"Have faith, Ryoko," Fuyu told her as their door was opened. "And everything will be okay."

A man stood there, a small smile on his face as he introduced himself as Genzaburo Inoue. "Are the two of you well this morning?"

"Define well while we sit here in imprisonment." Fuyu gave him a sweet smile but the meaning behind her words and her eyes were sour.

The man gave a small chuckle. "I understand, believe me, but perhaps this should cheer you up. I am here to take you to the others."

"Are the others going to be there?" Ryoko asked, jumping to her feet.

Inoue shook his head. "Koudou thought it would be easier to talk to you all separately then having all seven of you in a large group all at once." He stepped back from the door. "You shouldn't fear. I know that the other men may all seem big and scary but they're all really nice; big puppies when you get past first impressions."

Fuyu gave a shiver. "There's no way Toshizo is a big puppy."

Inoue gave a laugh as the two women followed him down the hall. "Well, they do call him the Demon."

"The Demon?" Fuyu pulled a face. "So unoriginal." Ryoko gave a laugh at her friend.

The room that they were led too was large and silent as they were let inside; Inoue stayed outside. All the men that they had met last night sat there before them, a single form sitting off to the side by herself, facing the men with eyes closed.

"Aunt Asami!" Fuyu slid to a stop on her knees beside her aunt. "They didn't hurt you, did they? Treat you ill?"

"I am fine," Asami answered her niece. "As are the others." Ryoko felt a bit relieved but her nervousness flooded her again as she glanced back at the men that stared at them in silence. She gave a shiver. "Take a seat, Ryoko. We have some rather interesting things to talk about." Asami told her.

"I…" Ryoko glanced at one of the men again, he wore a large, crooked smirk. She glanced back at Asami as she sat. "Where are the others?"

"Katsumi and Tsukiko are still in their room," Asami answered. "But Inoue has taken Chika and Yumi for some food after their own…meeting before bringing the two of you here. As I said, the others are safe, so don't worry."

"I apologize for the circumstances," The voice turned Fuyu and Ryoko's attention to the man that sat in the middle before them. It was Isami Koudou. He was supposed to be the leader of the Shinsengumi. "May I ask for your names?"

Fuyu glanced at her Aunt and Asami gave a nod. "Fuyu Kimura," She answered him.

"R-Ryoko Ito," She took a breath. "And you are?"

Isami went down the line. She recognized Heisuke Toudou, Shinpachi Nagakura, and Sanosuke Harada from the event at the restaurant yesterday with Yumi and Tsukiko and then Toshizo from earlier that morning when he had arrived to take Asami from their room. Souji Okita was the strange man with that crooked smile as he continued to stare at the two women, and the last one was the man that had drawn his sword on Katsumi last night. The silent Hajime Saito.

"How…how much trouble are we in?" Ryoko found herself asked,

Isami tilted his head, raising a brow. "Trouble?"

"This is all about attacking your soldiers in blue last night, right?" She asked.

The man looked at her with soft eyes. "How can someone as young and sweet as you be in the ominous Okami Pack?"

Fuyu snorted. "Don't let her fool you, old man," Isami pulled a face and repeated the title. "When we're shoved in battle, Ryoko can be one of the worst of us all. She's just nervous." She took a breath. "So why don't you just go ahead and tell us what's going on here? What was that last night?"

"Due to the circumstances, age wise, I have been asked to refrain from explaining what happened last night," Isami glanced at Asami; she closed her eyes.

Relief flooded through Ryoko. The less they knew the better, but Fuyu wasn't pleased.

"What? So we walk in on a woman getting eaten by your men and find that they can regenerate their wounds but we receive no explanation? Where's the fairness in that?"

"Talk to your aunt," Shinpachi grunted, crossing his arms. "Her decision. I told Isami it would be better to just kill all of you instead of just fooling around like we are now."

Fuyu narrowed her eyes.

"Now now," Okita still wore that grin on his face. "Don't rile them up, Nagakura. You still have to give them a chance to make a decision before we give them their fate."

Ryoko glanced back to Isami. "What do you plan on doing with us?"

Isami closed his eyes for a moment. "Unfortunately what you witnessed last night wasn't something that civilians are supposed to see, especially not travelers. Normally if you were men then we wouldn't have a problem in taking care of you," It wasn't hard for Ryoko to realize that he was talking about killing them. "But since you are all women it goes against my vows in doing so. So instead I came up with another plan. After talking to Kimura there," He gestured at Asami. "It seems that Saito was right in claiming you to be the Okami Pack. I didn't expect the group to be made of women but that doesn't change my mind. Warriors are Warriors and to have the ones known as the Okami Pack inside of the Shinsengumi would add to our reputation."

Ryoko stared at him for a moment before a smile began to crack in her lips. As her snickers formed, Fuyu glanced at her in confusion, the men doing the same. "So you throw us in a room for the night and scare us out of our minds before asking us to become a member of your little squad?" She threw her head back with that large smile and stared at the ceiling. "And to think that I had been afraid."

"So the little one does have some fight in her," Okita grinned.

"Either that or she's really, really agitated." Heisuke decided to comment with a smile of his own. "I agree with Isami. She seems too sweet to be a fighter."

"We're not here to discuss whether or not she's sweet enough to be a member of the Okami Pack," Toshizo growled. "We're here to discuss what to do with them."

"Oh, the big, scary Demon's not afraid of women now, is he?" Fuyu decided to shoot out. The moment his face turned into an ever worse look of displeasure, Fuyu's sneer grew wider.

"Fuyu," Asami cut in before Toshizo could say anything. "Now is not the time." Her niece gave a frown before crossing her arms. "I understand how you feel about all of this but you need to be serious."

"Either join or die? Come choices," Ryoko sighed, dropping her head again.

"I really don't care. I'm fine with whatever choice you give us," Fuyu told her aunt. "Better yet, I'll go with whatever Chika and Yumi said. And if they chose to die then I will make sure to take down as many as you bastards with me as I can!"

Ryoko gave a small smile as she shook her head at her friend. She then glanced at Asami. "I agree. Whatever my sisters chose, I will gladly follow."

Asami shook her own head. "Then I suppose it is a good thing that the two of them found joining the Shinsengumi to be interesting, isn't it?"

"I should have known," Fuyu sighed.

Asami gave a sigh and glanced at Isami. "You brought this upon yourself. I warned you that their personalities would be…difficult. Our name is not for show."

Isami gave a small laugh. "I can see," Clapping his hands, Inoue opened the door after a few more moments. "I would like you to follow Inoue to be reunited with your other companions while we talk to the final two."

"I hope Tsukiko rips you all a new one," Fuyu grunted, stomping from the room.

Ryoko stood silently to follow her before glancing back at the ones in the room. A few had begun to talk amongst themselves but the young one, Heisuke was giving her a smile. It brought a small one to her own before leaving the room herself.

"Damn, you know what we forgot to ask?" Fuyu began as they moved down another hall.

"What?"

"For our swords back." Fuyu ran a hand over her face. "Dammit."

Ryoko gave a frown. She had completely forgotten about their blades as well. Now that she thought about it, she felt…different without the weapon on her hip.

"Don't worry," Inoue gave them a smile. "Your weapons will be returned without a problem once things settle down."

They were led to a courtyard beneath some trees to find the other two women of their group sitter there, enjoying a quiet talk and food.

"Chika! Yumi!" Ryoko smiled, hurrying forward. "I'm glad to see you again!"

"Same here," Yumi clapped a hand on the younger woman's shoulders.

"Tell me," Chika grinned. "What did the two of you think of our new friends?"

"I think they're morons," Fuyu grunted. "I just feel disappointed that I won't be able to be in the room with Katsumi and Tsukiko when they get their turn of 'the talk'."

"That's exactly what I said," Yumi laughed. "And from the way that Tsukiko was treating that Nagakura fellow, well, I have to say that it will be quite entertaining."

Ryoko gave a small laugh of her own as she dug into the food herself but she found she could not eat correctly. Her stomach was still in knots as she waited for Katsumi's face to join them in the courtyard, unharmed. Katsumi would be able to take care of herself and she was smart, but Ryoko still had a bad feeling; at least until the remaining trio of the Okami pack finally joined them about half-an hour later.

"Katsumi! Tsukiko!" Fuyu greeted the women with her Aunt. "I'm glad to see that you're all right."

"I take it that you agreed to stay too then, huh?" Yumi asked them.

"What did you think that we were going to do?" Tsukiko asked, sitting down beside her friend.

"Well, with Katsumi there with you," Ryoko decided to say, a large smile on her face as she shot her friend a teasing grin. "We were expecting the men to quickly run out of the room in rage. Did she not annoy them?"

"Oh, very funny," Katsumi gave a fake laugh.

"Believe it or not," Asami decided to smile. "It was Tsukiko that angered the men; especially that Nagakura fellow." The four around the table stared at Tsukiko in surprise. She normally didn't act like that.

Chika shook her head. "I've got a bad feeling about us staying here," She told the others. Her attitude changed now that all of them were there; she must have held a cheerful disposition for Fuyu and Ryoko to keep them from worrying when they joined them.

"Yes, well there's not much else that we can right this moment," Asami told her. "Give it a few days and maybe then I'll have an idea." Chika nodded.

Katsumi stretched her arms with a grin. "Well then, if that's the case, then I just have one thing to say to you," She pointed at Ryoko. Tsukiko slapped a hand to her face, knowing what was coming as Ryoko gave a timid 'what?'. "Give me your food!"

Instantly Ryoko jumped up from the table with her plate, running around and trying her fastest to finish what was there as Katsumi chased her around, demanding for it to be handed over to her. Ryoko felt the knots in her stomach disappear now that Katsumi had been returned to her. Now with her close by again, she knew that everything was going to be alright.


End file.
